Test Validity

Technological and theoretical changes over the past decade have altered the way we think about test validity. This book addresses the present and future concerns raised by these developments. Topics discussed include: * the validity of computerized testing * the validity of testing for specialized populations (e.g., minorities, the handicapped) and * new analytic tools to study and measure validity

Contents: Preface. Introduction. Part I: Historical and Epistemological Bases of Validity. L.J. Cronbach, Five Perspectives on the Validity Argument. W.H. Angoff, Validity: An Evolving Concept. S. Messick, The Once and Future Issues of Validity: Assessing the Meaning and Consequences of Measurement. Part II: The Changing Faces of Validity. J.W. Pellegrino, Mental Models and Mental Tests. R.J. Sternberg, GENECES: A Rationale for the Construct Validation of Theories and Tests of Intelligence. B.F. Green, Construct Validity of Computer-Based Tests. Part III: Testing Validity in Specific Subpopulations. W.W. Willingham, Testing Handicapped People -- The Validity Issue. R.P. Dura'n, Validity and Language Skills Assessment: Non-English Background Students. P.W. Holland, D.T. Thayer, Differential Item Performance and the Mantel-Haenszel Procedure. D. Thissen, L. Steinberg, H. Wainer, Use of Item Response Theory in the Study of Group Differences in Trace Lines. Part IV: Statistical Innovations in Validity Assessment. F.L. Schmidt, Validity Generalization and the Future of Criterion-Related Validity. L.V. Hedges, The Meta-Analysis of Test Validity Studies: Some New Approaches. B. Muthe'n, Some Uses of Structural Equation Modeling in Validity Studies: Extending IRT to External Variables. D.B. Rubin, Discussion.